HomeMy WebLinkAboutICTC Agenda and Packet 2018-10-22
Agenda
Iowa City Telecommunications Commission
City Cable TV Office, 10 S. Linn St., Tower Place Parking Facility, Level 3A
October 22, 2018, 5:30PM
1. Call to order
2. Approval of minutes
3. Announcements of Commissioners
4. Short public announcements
5. Post-franchise role of the Telecommunications Commission
6. REPORTS
Consumer Issues
Mediacom Report
Local Access Reports
City Cable TV Office Report
7. Adjournment
If you will need disability-related accommodations in order to participate in this program/event, please contact Ty
Coleman at 319-356-5454 or ty-coleman@iowa-city.org. Early requests are strongly encouraged to allow
sufficient time to meet your access needs.
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Minutes
Iowa City Telecommunications Commission
September 24, 2018 – 5:30 P.M.
Iowa City Public Library, Digital Media Lab, 123 S. Linn St., Iowa City, Iowa 52240
Call to Order:Meeting called to order at 5:35 P.M.
Members Present:Paul Gowder, James Pierce, Matthew Brenton (via conference call)
Members Absent:
Staff Present:Ty Coleman
Others Present:Gerardo Sandoval, Bond Drager
Recommendations to Council: None
Approval of minutes:
Brenton moved and Pierce seconded a motion to approve the June 25, 2018 minutes as amended. The
motion passed unanimously.
Announcements of Commissioners:
None.
Short public announcements:
None.
Election of Officers:
Brenton was nominated for chair. Pierce was nominated for vice-chair. A vote was taken and the motion
passed 3-0.
Post-franchise role of the Telecommunications Commission (ICTC):
Coleman said that since the local cable franchise agreement has expired and the cable TV franchise
enabling ordinance is where the Commission originated, the City felt it would be a good time to assess
the Commission’s duties, given that a number of the duties were tied to the local franchise. Coleman said
he would be sending a memo to provide background information and describe the current situation. The
memo would ask for ICTC members to consider what the Commission could provide the City in the future
and would offer some options for discussion at the next meeting. Coleman said the goal would be for the
Commission to come up with a proposal for how it could operate and the role it could serve to the City
Council. Coleman recommended commissioners review the ICTC by-laws, which lists the
previously-established duties. Coleman noted that changes would need to be made to the by-laws.
Gowder recollected that there had been a few changes in the by-laws sometime in the last couple of
years. Coleman said that the date at which election of officers would take place had changed, due to a
change in the timing of Council appointments to commissions. Also, the designation of secretary
changed from the Cable TV Administrator to the Media Production Services Coordinator.
Gowder suggested that input from City staff and cable TV access channel representatives would be
welcomed. Coleman said that the access channel representatives could also be sent a copy of the
memo.
Municipal broadband:
Coleman noted that a former Commission member had sent him an email to pass along to the ICTC,
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which included a link to an article about municipal broadband. Coleman said the email with the link was
included in the meeting packet.
Brenton said his understanding was that one of the roadblocks to establishing a municipal broadband
system is for a municipality to first own its own electrical utility. Gowder noted that the conversation about
municipal broadband had taken place by the City Council a while ago. He asked how the Commission
could determine whether the issue should be moved forward or if it should be dropped. Brenton asked if
there was a way that the Commission could make an official recommendation that the Council looks into
the issue, now that the lawsuit with Mediacom has been dropped. Gowder wondered if there was a way
for Council to appoint the Commission or another group to study the issue, including the cost. He stated
that currently there wasn’t enough information for a concrete recommendation. Brenton noted that the
ICTC isn’t equipped to determine what the cost would be. Pierce expressed a desire for one of the ICTC
members to become a liaison to the City Council on the issue to determine what financial and barriers
would need to be overcome, from Council’s perspective, to take the issue further.
Gowder asked what barriers there may be to create a liaison to the Council on the issue. Coleman said
he wondered if there was a way for an ad-hoc committee to be formed to focus on researching the
feasibility of a City-owned broadband system for residents. Pierce noted that the Council had recently
formed a subcommittee, involving two Council members to take a look at a particular issue and wondered
if something like that, with the addition of an ICTC liaison to that subcommittee, could work. Gowder
agreed that the idea seemed to be a reasonable recommendation. Brenton said the ICTC’s role is to
express the importance of looking into the issue, but that ultimately the City Council and the City Manager
would need to be involved in determining the cost. Gowder presented a motion to approve the idea of a
Council subcommittee. Pierce seconded the motion. The motion passed 3-0.
Brenton asserted that the ICTC could offer examples of other localities that have created their own
system. He mentioned the net neutrality letter the ICTC had submitted to the Council last year and said
that perhaps municipal broadband could be tied to net neutrality, as it would, in a way, allow the City to
enforce net neutrality at the Internet service provider level.
Pierce noted that a City Council candidate he had been working with had not directly addressed the issue,
due to a short timeline for the campaign, but that he was in favor of putting some money towards the
issue. He said he felt that the candidates and current council members would be open to it. Brenton said
he hadn’t heard of anyone being strictly opposed to it. Pierce said the main concern people have is
where the funding would come from. Gowder said that prior discussions about municipal broadband by
the ICTC focused on the infrastructure issue, and felt there was some skepticism at that time.
Pierce asked if the issue could be approached from the perspective that a municipal system could help
those who fall between not being to afford high speed Internet service, but also don’t qualify for the
Connect2Compete program offered by Mediacom for households with students who qualify for the free
and reduced lunch program.
Gowder mentioned the Community Internet Project group who had introduced themselves to the ICTC at
a previous meeting. He said they were trying to create a mesh network system, working with the schools
to provide service to students. Gowder wondered where the group was on the project and asked if
Coleman could reach out to the group. Pierce said that having the group as part of the conversation
when making a proposal to Council for a subcommittee would be helpful. Brenton recalled a conversation
with the group where it was determined that it might be best for the group to pursue their project on its
own and then be able to showcase it as an example of a solution that is working. Gowder said that the
ICTC could ask the group if the ICTC could help in any way. Pierce noted it would be helpful to know
what barriers the group might be encountering.
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Consumer Issues:
Coleman said that the local Mediacom contacts have been very helpful and quick to respond to issues
presented to them by the Cable TV Office.
Mediacom Report:
Coleman reported that he had not received any information from Mediacom.
Local Access Reports:
Sandoval reported that PATV is working at part of its mission to become current with technology. He said
they are starting a streaming channel. Other activities have included recording in 4K resolution and
fundraising to purchase a drone. Sandoval said that PATV staff was also working with producers to
educate them on new techniques and software to offer them opportunities to try something new and
become more current. He said these efforts will benefit the entire community.
Sandoval said that there was a remodel ribbon cutting ceremony event planned with the Chamber of
Commerce on October 18.
Drager mentioned a short video on the Library’s Facebook page that had been created to promote Get a
Library Card Month.
City Cable TV Office Report:
Coleman said his office was beginning another round of its Meet the Candidates series, which brings
candidates in to the City Channel 4 studio to record a brief statement. Coleman said that the project
would focus on local candidates or those who represent portions of Iowa City. He said the Cable TV
Office would also be recording several candidate forums, all of which would be sponsored by the League
of Women Voters. The plan is to go live with each of the candidate forums.
Coleman mentioned that he had attended the National Association of Television Officers and Advisors
(NATOA) conference in Philadelphia. He said topics ranged from production, channel operation, and
social media to right-of-way management and municipal broadband. Small cell wireless siting was
another hot topic. Coleman said he learned there was a concern that rulings at the federal level could
open the door for wireless companies to come to town without a lot of local control over how to regulate
and charge for use of the right-of-way. If wireless companies are allowed to use the right-of-way with
minimal restrictions and costs, the fear was that cable companies may be able to claim that since the
wireless carriers would be using the right-of-way to facilitate 5G services and that cable companies
should have the same level of access, potentially putting franchise fees at risk.
Coleman discussed a couple of examples of communities who had shared their story of municipal
broadband at a conference session. One community, Fairlawn, Ohio, with a population of 7,500, had
three incumbent providers who weren’t providing the level of service desired. The City of Fairlawn’s
growth strategy officially deemed broadband as essential infrastructure. Fairlawn’s goal was not to get a
return on its investment, but instead to provide access and increased speeds. Fairlawn built its own
system at a cost of ten million dollars. Coleman noted that they do not own their own electric utility. The
system is operated by the city’s public works department and the funding for the system comes from the
road budget.
Coleman said that Clackamas County, Maryland was the other community who shared its experience with
building its own broadband network. They began to utilize dark fiber they owned and created a network
that does not provide service to residents, but rather to institutions, such as the school system. The
school district paid for its part of the build-out up front, which was likely expensive, but was saving a lot of
money on Internet service due to much lower rates being charged by the county. The community has
made its network open to commercial entities, but have yet not had any companies come forward. Some
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of the communities within Clackamas County had changed its code to require new conduit, for sole use
by the city, to be installed by the developer of any development project. The County is also using more
micro-fiber to be able to put more lines in one conduit.
Coleman said it was reported that YouTube was now the number two search engine. He also referred to
a presentation made by a public access center-like group who was providing access to virtual reality and
related technology. Coleman said one interesting example that was shown included the use of
augmented reality, that allowed a people to point their phone cameras towards a sign and have the
translation overlayed. Coleman said that closed captioning of video was being implemented more by
municipal organizations and that the Cable TV Office was continuing to increase its efforts to caption
videos it produces. Coleman said that captioning longer-format programs can be very expensive and that
other communities were also dealing with that issue. He said there were vendors at the conference who
displayed a variety of captioning solutions ranging from human-generated captions to ones that are
generated automatically using voice recognition software. Coleman said that his office was planning to
request funding in the next budget in order to implement a captioning strategy. Drager mentioned that
one issue she has encountered is that automatic captioning struggles when speakers have a thick accent.
Coleman mentioned that YouTube offered community contributions process that allows viewers to
voluntarily submit captions using YouTube’s captioning tools. He said that captions have to be approved
by the producer before they would be made publicly visible.
Coleman said that there was a video awards event as part of the conference and that a lot of great work
was being done by local governments. Coleman mentioned that the City of Iowa City’s Jack Brooks had
won third place for a piece he created about the Oakdale Prison dog training program.
Adjournment:
Brenton moved and Pierce seconded a motion to adjourn. The motion passed unanimously.
Adjournment was at 6:37 p.m.
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TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
12-MONTH ATTENDANCE RECORD
Gowder Bergus Brenton Johnk
10/23/2017 x o/c x x vacant
11/27/2017 x x x x vacant
11/30/2017
Special meeting
x o/c x x vacant
01/22/2018
Meeting not held
due to lack of
quorum.
vacant
02/26/2018 x x x x vacant
03/26/2018 x x x x vacant
Pierce
04/23/2018 x x x x x
05/21/2018 x o/c x x x
06/25/2018
07/23/2018
Meeting not held
due to lack of
quorum.
vacant vacant
08/27/2018
Meeting not held
due to lack of
quorum.
vacant vacant
9/24/2018 x vacant x vacant x
(x) = Present
(o) = Absent
(o/c) = Absent/Called (Excused)
Date: October 16, 2018
To: Iowa City Telecommunications Commission
From: Ty Coleman, Media Production Services Coordinator
Re: Post-franchise role of the Telecommunications Commission
Members of the Telecommunications Commission:
At our last Commission meeting held September 24,2018,I presented the recommendation of assessing
the current status of cable TV franchises and the Commission’s role moving forward,following the recent
expiration of the local cable franchise with Mediacom.In this memo,I would like to note the history,as
well as recent changes in the City’s authority over the cable company (current provider or any others that
may come in the future).I am also including a few elements related to the Commission’s mission and
presenting options for consideration.
Background
As you likely know,the City of Iowa City (the City)enjoyed the benefits of a local franchise agreement
with the cable company for many years,with our last being agreed upon in 2005 with Mediacom.In 2007,
Iowa adopted a law (Chapter 477A)that creates a state franchise process for cable providers,giving the
option to providers of seeking a future franchise to provide services in any part of the state,as opposed to
negotiating with individual municipalities.Local franchises existing at the time were to remain valid
through the term of the agreement.Fortunately,our franchise had a 13-year term established,which gave
us several years of local authority.
As you also may recall,a company known as Alliance applied for a state franchise in 2013 and,as
allowed within the state law,Mediacom was immediately able to elect to convert to a state franchise once
Alliance was granted a franchise by the Iowa Utilities Board (IUB).Mediacom chose to convert and the
local agreement was thereby terminated,though some of the requirements remained as specified within
the state code.
In 2015,at the request of the Iowa City Telecommunications Commission (ICTC),the City requested that
the IUB revoke the certificate of franchise authority from Alliance,since the company had not begun to
operate a cable system or provide video services in Iowa City for more than one year following the IUB
issuing Alliance a franchise.Similarly,another company,Phalanx,had been granted a state-issued
franchise back in 2009 and had also never begun to provide services,although Mediacom did not elect to
seek a state franchise at that time.The IUB evaluated the City’s request to revoke these franchise
certificates and ordered that Mediacom return to compliance with the terms of the municipal franchise
until its expiration date of August 1,2018.Ultimately,Mediacom complied with the order and we carried
out the duration of the local agreement until it recently expired.With an expired municipal franchise,
Mediacom was then able to obtain a state-issued franchise and has been operating under the State code
since August 2018.
Iowa City established a franchise enabling ordinance in conjunction with its first local franchise agreement
back in 1978.The ordinance allowed the City to issue a franchise agreement with a cable operator and to
permit the construction,installation,maintenance,and operation of equipment and facilities for the
distribution of programming through a telecommunications network.Among other things,the ordinance
also established the Telecommunications Commission,then known as the Broadband
Telecommunications Commission,(Section 12-4-3)and specified its duties and powers.Many of the
duties,such as those related to rate regulation and regular review of the cable system,were in
connection with the City’s authority over the cable company as indicated in negotiated agreements.
Next steps
As we no longer have a municipal franchise agreement with our cable provider,it is recommended that
the Commission consider its duties and overall role as we move forward.At our October 22,2018
Telecommunications Commission meeting,you are invited to discuss your thoughts and ideas for how the
Commission might propose to serve the City in the future.Please refer to the Commission’s current
by-laws for complete information regarding previously established duties.
The by-laws can be found at:
https://citychannel4.com/franchise/ICTCBy-laws2016.pdf
The franchise enabling ordinance can be found at: https://citychannel4.com/franchise/cableord.pdf
Some questions to consider include whether or not the Commission should continue to serve as an
official City commission,as a kind of advisory board,as an ad-hoc committee for particular issues,or
some other kind of group.Which of the current duties still apply and would be allowed by the current
franchise status? What could the Commission be providing to the City that it currently is not providing?
Please give some thought to this and plan to discuss at the October 22 meeting so that you can begin to
formulate a proposal to submit to the Iowa City City Council.Our office,as well as the City Manager’s
Office and our legal department can provide recommendations and answers to questions raised during
the discussion.If the City and City Council are in support of your proposal,the next steps may involve a
process of amending or repealing sections of the ordinance,amending the by-laws,and re-establishing a
newly-defined entity by resolution, etc.
Thank you for your service as a Telecommunications Commission member.It is the involvement of
people like you that help to make our city the great city that it is!I look forward to hearing your thoughts
and ideas on October 22.
Sincerely,
Ty Coleman
Media Production Services Coordinator, City of Iowa City Cable TV Office
(319) 356-5454 ty-coleman@iowa-city.org
October 15, 2018
To: Iowa City Telecommunications Commission
From: Ty Coleman, Media Production Services Coordinator (MPSC)
Re: Cable Complaints September 2018
1.)
Date: 09/05/18
Method of contact: Call to MPSC
Complaint/Comment Summary:
Resident was concerned about a cable laying across his property in order to service a neighboring home.
Resident was told that the cable could not be buried where it was laying and would need to be relocated.
Resolution Summary:
MPSC inquired about the issue with Mediacom’s Rick Karnes. Karnes reported that a project for relocating the
cable was being submitted by the construction department. Karnes noted that burying the line would require a lot
of boring, which meant that it could take a while, and that there was not currently an estimated completion date.
Karnes said that the cable, when buried, would run as close to the property line as possible.
Date of Resolution: Not yet resolved. Awaiting information regarding scheduled completion date.
2.)
Date: 09/07/18
Method of contact: Email to Cable TV Office
Issue/Comment Summary:
Resident was concerned that she was planning on a project in her yard involving digging and that Mediacom had
not marked the location of the lines, though they had cleared the property for digging.
Resolution Summary:
The resident later reported that she contacted CenturyLink, who provided her with contact information for the
vendor responsible for marking line locations for both CenturyLink and Mediacom. The resident contacted the
marking vendor and discovered that they had received inaccurate information from a visitor at the resident’s
home. The resident noted that the marking company was coming back out to mark the lines. MPSC followed up
with the customer after the weekend and learned that everything worked out for her to proceed with her project.
Date of Resolution: 09/07/18
3.)
Date: 09/14/18
Method of contact: Email to MPSC
Issue/Comment Summary:
A resident who had, earlier this year, experienced unexplainable high volume data usage through her Mediacom
account included the MPSC in correspondence with local Mediacom staff, as she was again getting notifications
of high usage. The customer was also concerned that she had received a data usage warning for a billing period
that had ended five days prior to receiving the warning.
Resolution Summary:
Mediacom’s Betty Hartman responded that she had contacted the tier department to see if they noticed anything
related to the customer’s data usage. She also sent a message to the tech department to see if they knew
anything about why the customer was receiving a warning for a billing period that had already been completed.
The technical representative suggested the customer clear her cookies and cache on her browser in order to get
the late data warnings to stop, noting that he had experienced the same thing with his account. The resident
responded that she would try the suggestion. No further communication has been received from the resident or
Mediacom.
Date of Resolution: 09/19/18
The Library Channel
Report prepared for the Iowa City Telecommunications Commission monthly meeting by Beth Fisher, Program
Librarian and Bond Drager, Equipment Specialist. September 2018.
October 2018:
It’s been a very busy month of adult programming in October with ICPL taking part in both the Iowa City Book Festival
and the Witching Hour Festival (see below). We hired a new Library Channel intern in September. She is an intermedia
student and she has begun working on programs. We also recently refreshed the video section of our website to
incorporate it more closely with our overall site design. Visit icpl.org/video to view Library programs.
Children’s Programming included:
• Dia De Los Muertos with Ballet Folklorico Corazon Latino
Adult Programming:
° The final four International Writing Program events for this year are in October: You Must Read This (part of
Iowa City Book Festival); Creating in Full View; Wo/Men in Flux; and Images of America
° Iowa City Book Festival events from October 3-7, including:
o Catastrophic Reading – A Creaturely Library
o The LitCity Project
o Ari Berman
o We the Interwoven
o Silvia Hidalgo
o Dan Kaufman
o Max Allan Collins
o Art Cullen
o The Reading Aloud Group
° Witching Hour Festival, October 12 & 13
o The Curious Relationship between Curators and Their Communities Panel
o How Capitalism is Trying to Kill You
o Erotic Vulnerability, Joy, and Consent
° Obermann Conversation: Gerrymandering and Voter Rights
Monthly Program Update:
This month: October 2018 Next Month: November. 2018
Live Children’s
Programs
• 3 • 4
Live Adult Programs • 17 • 1
Programs Cablecast • 661 •
Programs videotaped
by Govt. Channel/CTS
• 1 •
Date: October 15, 2018
To: The Iowa City Telecommunications Commission
From: Ty Coleman, Media Production Services Coordinator, City of Iowa City Cable TV Office
Re: City of Iowa City Cable TV Office report for the October 2018 meeting
Media Production Services
Submitted by Jack Brooks, Special Projects Assistant, and Toni Ugolini, Media Production Assistant
Recent production activities:
●Produced weekly Iowa City Update program. Topics included City Park Rides, special
elections, and Halloween events.
●Created Community Highlights videos for the Kids Day at the Farmers Market, Jingle Cross
Festival, and the Light Art Grand Tour.
●Produced PSA videos for the leaf vacuum program.
●Recorded & Live Streamed multiple Candidate Forums for the upcoming election.
●Recorded the City High Fall Choir Concert which showcases the different choir groups the
high school has to offer.
●Recorded the Iowa Women’s Foundation’s Annual Luncheon in which three speakers
presented, as well as members.
Upcoming productions:
●Upcoming Iowa City Update programs to feature Leaf it to Us program, free energy audits,
and the Holiday Markets.
●Creating an Iowa City In Focus that features the Emerald Ash Borer, flood mitigation efforts,
curbside collection tips, and more.
●Finishing up a fun, informational video on the Senior Center’s Women's Pool League.
●Creating a new virtual park tour video for City Park to showcase the updated park.
●Continue editing the Historic Preservation Commission video which will be an
informational video for citizens of Iowa City to watch to gain an insight on what the
commission does.
Programming and Interactive Services
Submitted by Kevin Crawley, Communications Technician
Recent and Upcoming Projects:
We began playing the ICCSD's weekly series, Education Exchange, in September and we have
run four episodes thus far. September saw a special Meet The Candidates (MTC) project, as we
covered both the primary and the special election candidate forums and MTC personal videos. I
also rewrote the software that runs our channel 5 slideshow between interactive sessions,
replacing a cranky (and no longer very well supported) applescript version with a more
future-proof javascript and perl combination.
Website:
In September, we had 3,946 users access 6,948 pages in 5,459 sessions. Our most popular
pages were Mediacom's channel lineup page, Mediacom's channel rates, our home page, Ann
Feerk's MTC video, Christine Ralston's MTC video, Bruce Teague's MTC video, and our
watch-online page.
On YouTube, we had 7,612 video views account for 23,946 minutes (399 hours and 6 minutes) of
watch time. We added 17 more subscribers, and our current total is 452. Our most watched
videos by views were the Welcome to Iowa City! video, the ICPD recruitment video, our PSA on
the Mormon Trek Blvd four-to-three-lane conversion, our Jingle Cross promotion, Ann Feerks
MTC video, and our PSA on Ped Mall updates. The most watched videos by time were the ICPD
recruitment video, the New Horizons Band, the Welcome to Iowa City! video, the LWV City
Council candidate forum, the City Council Conversation with the Candidates forum, and the MTC
videos of Bruce Teague and Ann Feerks.
Programming:
We cablecast 121 programs produced in-house
814 times for 530 hours of programming, 40
locally-produced (DITV, Senior Center, Hoover
Library, Task Force on Aging, JC Board of
Supervisors, Coralville, North Liberty, University
Heights, and Education Exchange) programs 116
times for 110 hours of programming, and 30
imported programs 101 times for 48 hours of
programming. We also showed 112 PSAs 11,122
times for 25 hours of programming.
Programs Completed by the Cable TV Office in September 2018
●2018 Friday Night Concert Series
○Younger & Anthony Worden
●2018 Jingle Cross Festival
●2018 Leaf Vacuum Program
●Aging in Place Forum - Resources in the Community to Help Stay at Home
●Bike Shorts: Choosing the Correct Bike
●CARTHA Glocalizer: Dying-Well Dialogue with Pallium India's founder Dr. M.R.Rajagopal
●Iowa City City Council Meeting
○September 04, 2018
○September 18, 2018
●Iowa City City Council Special Joint Meeting of September 18, 2018
●Iowa City City Council Work Session
○September 04, 2018
○September 18, 2018
●Iowa City Foreign Relations Council Presents
○Creating Alternative Worlds in Animation
○Healthcare Delivery in Developing Countries
○Iowa's Role in Agriculture and International trade: Why Tariffs and Trade
Agreements Matter
○Palliative Care is Everyone's Business: Community Participation in Health Care
○The Golden Age of Russian Guitar
●Iowa City New Horizons Band Summer Concert
●Iowa City Police Department Swearing In and Promotions Ceremony
●Iowa City Update:
○City Park Rides
○Climate Action Plan
○Kids Day at the Farmers Market
○Primary Election
●Market Music 2018
○Dandelion Stompers
○Mission Bluegrass Band
○Rob Lumbard
●Monarchs and More
●Mormon Trek 4 to 3-way Conversion
●Pedestrian Mall Improvements Project - Fall 2018 Update
●Ride Share Safety Tips PSA